Gotham’s Inferno
by GothamsCat
Summary: The thing people fail to realize about Death is that she is acurlly quite lovely. INSPIRED BY Dante’s Inferno and a tie-in to “The Shadow Series,” Bruce makes a major decision to go through Hell in order to save the person he loves. Taking everyone in Gotham down with him he learns they are all the same in the circle of sins. SET IN current Gotham.
1. Prologue I

_"Hi, Bruce,"_ _she smiles brightly while flashing her perfectly white teeth. "I'm Death."_

-Death to Bruce.

* * *

Prologue I

* * *

He was busy. Too preoccupied trying to find the last drop of life in green eyes that were too faded away and too weak to hold anything measurable of living. Too busy holding her hand that felt almost as cold as ice, and too busy whispering silent pleas that begged her to return. To come back to him. Though he knew she wouldn't, the act of doing so was all in desperation regardless. He begged in silent whispers so no one else would hear, the voice of a child familiar but who was almost a stranger to himself… He begged with the tears trickling from his eyes and down his cheeks in utter hopelessness as his family and friends watch speechlessly of anything to say or do. They wanted to help but knew there was nothing they could do. So Bruce sat there kneeling on the floor of his home cradling his friend, his tears returning for comfort-reminding him of what he had lost then, and what he was losing now. As if nothing had changed. As his tears fell… so did the rain.

The front door was open, but no one took notice… all fifteen of them or so. Even as a chill from the city passed through the broken lights, and the rain leaked in uninvited… no one was paying attention. So nobody saw when _she_ came through the door.

She came with her boots, blending into her clothes and squelching from the rain. Her cross of Life that hung loosely from her neck, and a perfectly fitting top-hat over her hair that was spread out around her like spider-webs. No umbrella and no coat. Just a hat that said she was dressed for a dinner party-though there was no feast being served at Wayne Manor. The best part? She politely knocked before entering.

Everyone knew her by name, though no one had ever officially _seen_ her in person. At parties, perhaps, Gotham could be notorious for her presence if you looked hard enough. More often massacres then not. A lot of wars… if you can believe it. She prowls the streets at any and all hours of the day and night… because she never sleeps. Sleep was closer to her bothers line of work. Though, the nighttime is surely her favourite. Standing in the streets of blood that the city folks of Gotham call home… all dressed the same.

She was almost like a soldier-concealed among the living as something they cannot always see with their bare eyes. Helping the wounded in all shapes and forms, and helping the dead take their final leave. She's seen much in her days; people who died during battle, people who were murdered by a gun or a knife not done by her own hand, and even something simple and complicated as suffocation or starvation.

Suicides that were really no different than anyone else who died because to her, despite a person's sex, race, orientation, or ethnicity… it was all the same. Young, old, rich and poor, they were all people that had ended up to her at some point or another. All coming together as people. All coming to be guided by _her_ ; and she is who she is, which should not be to blame. She's got a job to do. Period. It isn't easy, but it's hers and she does it well. Helping and touching those, pointing them in the direction they need to be without judgement but rather the truest form of unconditional love. It did not matter if a person was innocent or guilty or if they had their whole life before them-everyone dies. Everyone.

She'd been everywhere life had to offer without ever actually touching it, which was strange and special in its own sort of way… Boats, planes, cars, and trains- travelling beside those all going to one place. And when the train stops… the boat sinks… and the cars come to an abrupt and immediate halt… she is there. Standing polity with a smile, always punctual and _never_ late. She is always there.

Sometimes, staying during the funerals to linger, and help the loved ones and friends of the recently departed grieve. She goes by many names because of her work, because of the awful and incredible places she's been, and the people she's touched. She's infamous… to some. A blessing to others. Some titles are more common than the rest, but she mainly just goes by one.

Holding true to her name and on time as always, the end is creeping to a close that is unannounced to the friends and enemies gathered about the foyer. She came quiet, not to disturb the silence. Walking slowly before kneeling in front of the group, across from Bruce. Eyes closed, she smiled with her infamous black lips, Surveying the next person she was to guide into the Afterlife. Selina. Selina Kyle; a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

Bruce remained still as everyone stood surprised, almost breathless that they could be actually seeing her as she stood tall and poised... but Bruce... knew who she was before she had even entered. Having met her years ago where she greeted him unexpectedly and sorrowfully. Where she touched him accidentally... and now he sees her again but instead she is smiling at him.

She stuck her hand out to finally greet him properly.

 ** _"Hi, Bruce,"_ **she smiled brightly while flashing her perfectly white teeth. **_**"I'm Death."**_**

He looked up at her quickly with tear- stained eyes. Wetness streaked all down his cheeks and for a second he was almost shook-this was really happening.

 ** _"Don't worry,"_** she tried to soothe him. **_"I haven't come for you,"_** she clarified if the fact wasn't already obvious. **_"I don't bite either,"_** she added waiting for him to shake her hand. **_"But even if I_ _did…_ _I'm not contagious or anything."_** She smiled again which pursued Bruce to quickly reach over Selina and shake the hand of Death.

 ** _"It's nice to finally meet you properly,"_** she said, trying to hold onto him while he withdrew quick, putting his attention back down to Selina's lifeless face.

Then, the _Divine_ _Light_ kneeled beside Bruce, putting both hands comfortably against his shoulders, and spoke to him as if he was a child again.

 _"You have to let her go now."_

Her lips were soft against his earlobe, her voice was directly in his ear-loud and clear, yet it was as though he had not heard her at all. She waited silently. Death was patient. Bruce took his time. He then looked up at Death who was still smiling politely-but she could see in his drying, eyes that this wasn't easy for him. She knew… it never was. She reached over to him with gentleness and grace-fitting her hands in his own and locking eyes. She felt him shudder a bit but he didn't pull away. He actually seemed… comfortable.

She told him the things he knew. The things that were interchangeable with nothing he could do to change it. He, nor Selina could cheat her (though she wouldn't have minded if they tried); which made him smile some. Selina's life was now final and her death eternal. That it was not Bruce's fault-from anything he may have done or didn't do. She reminded that this was the way things had to be, and Selina was suffering.

It gave him little comfort, even as she slipped her hands away, leaving him feeling colder without her touch. Leaving him with a question, something he had to know. "Will Selina go to heaven?"

Bruce himself was not a particularly religious believer. He grew up Catholic; such as Selina. He used to pray at his bedside with his parents, sometimes in the morning; but somehow along he had lost his faith. He was a child then, and even now as a boy that was not yet an adult-teetering between the two because he was still a child that wanted to be so much more. He still could not fathom the idea of God. Even staring Death in the face.

 ** _"Do you believe in Heaven?"_** she asked him out loud.

"If I did does that mean she'll go?" His voice was beginning to shake, he was on the verge of tears again.

 ** _"Yes."_**

"If I don't will she still go?"

 ** _"Yes."_**

Whether she was just telling him the things he wanted to hear, or maybe the things she felt he needed to hear, he could sense in her voice that she was being genuine. That her words were true.

Besides, he needed to believe it regardless. He needed to believe Selina would go to heaven because maybe if he believed hard enough, that's where she would go no matter what. He needed her to go there so badly because if there was nothing he could do to save her life and ending was final, at least she would be going someplace she truly deserved. Selina was not perfect. But even flawed, homeless, poor, rough, and anything else the people of Gotham ever saw her as, she deserved to go to a place where she'd be loved and protected as she should've always been.

As he was thinking about it, his mind brought him to a place he could only visit in his dreams if he found himself asleep. A field on the outside of town where Selina would be young and beautiful, thirteen years old again where she would have a fresh start. He sees her glancing around at the Midtown Bridge, confused until he sees them… his parents. Not too far off they're waiting for her. And even though his thoughts end there, he knows they will care for her and love her as they did him. He almost laughs at the stories he could imagine Selina telling his mother about Alfred and himself. And though his father would encourage her to use coasters and keep her feet off the table, Selina was a trailblazer. Even in death and she'd do what she liked. She would meet his sister, Karen and they would get along perfectly-they would each have a friend in death.

Yet, even with all that beauty and peace in death… when he opened his eyes and looked into her green irises the colour of emeralds, he could not bare the fact that she wouldn't be with him any longer. Which made him very sad, because the truth of it was, there was one of her. One Selina, one life; so when it was all over, and she was all gone, that was ultimately the end. So he leaned down like he was whispering his final words in her ear, and he cried like a child. Loud, hot tears of anger and depression getting soaked into her scalp, seeping into her curls. A shutting breath escaped from her that was only noticed by Death because Selina could not reach up with her hand to comfort him. He squeezed onto her tightly and The Light put a hand on his backside trying to quiet him.

 _"Bruce, please try to calm down, it's going to be alright."_

But he didn't. He screamed loud and hateful at everyone-especially himself because he knew everyone had a part to play and his was the biggest of all. The thunder outside with the rain was roaring now. Cracking and tearing at the sky with gusto, trying to overpower him-trying to shake his chest and frighten him into silence. Nobody stopped to comfort him, nobody moved… they just let him scream and wail until his face was red and his breath started to give out. It wasn't until his head started to feel light that he actually calmed down, and when he was quiet, Death said: _"I have to take her now."_

He did not beg for her life. He did not beg for more time. He did not beg for anything at all… he knew. So he touched the wet tears on his eyes and wiped them away nodding.

When he released his harsh grip on Selina, Death could finally see her. She reached out a hand to touch her forehead-which was not much colder than her hand, before she swept her fingers through her hair, trying to comfort her. As she peered down into her eyes, she saw darkness, and there in the endless black was Selina, hanging on by a thread, She was panting and wailing, growing weak from exhaustion. But she was there, still alive.

Her body shuttered though she had already been trembling since Death walked through the door. Her breath was cold against the back of Death's hand, her heart was beating low, growing darker by the second except for a single, little spark of red fading in and out. The part that was keeping her alive. Death could see it, but she was still suffering, the blood drying cold on her clothes and boiling up in her throat. It was time to snuff out the light.

She peered deep into Selina's eyes, seeing her hanging low on the thread with her hands caked in dust. Death reached down with her own, leaning deeper into the darkness with her lips in a gentle pucker.

When she kissed the dying and grasped onto their hand they sometimes faded quickly. Their spirit fluttering from body and into her cold hands. Some came more slowly, and others put up a fight she refused to wager; others accepted their fate. Selina Kyle was _not_ one of those people. For when Death held her hand outstretched Selina looked down into the black as if she wasn't there at all; and when their lips touched… nothing happened. Selina did not fade or give in, she didn't fight or struggle. She stayed put with her feet planted firmly with the living. Her message was clear.

So Death sat up slowly and announced: **_"She doesn't want to go."_**

Easier said than done, she stared at Bruce for a long time waiting for him to say something. What could he say? It was clear he didn't want her to go either, but who would? It was funny actually, how much Death knew about others once someone had passed. She knew that people actually _did_ care. That they did love. That they didn't mean to hurt… they didn't mean what they said. Unfortunately, most learned a little too late when she came passing by.

"So she doesn't want to go," Bridgit repeated. "She can stay with us." An admirable effort at hope.

 ** _"It's not that simple,"_** Death told her. **_"If she was supposed to stay here… I wouldn't."_** She turned to Bruce. **_"You understand."_**

He stared at her.

 ** _"Bruce…"_** She was pleading with him. **_"Will you let her go? Will you tell her it's okay?"_**

He nodded with his hands molded into Selina's, fingers slick with sweat from anxiety and tiredness. Death leaned in close, reaching out to caress his cheeks with cold ice.

Alfred stepped forward, "hey, what are you-"

She kissed him. It wasn't deadly, but just enough to bring him close and let his skin feel like a spirit. He was glowing.

He closed his eyes and when she pulled away from him he held his breath. Getting a kiss from Death was not like getting a kiss from Selina. The brief touch of her lips, her breath on his, left him shocked. Somehow also… familiar, like he'd felt her once or twice before in his life, though he couldn't place where. And the longer he held onto her kiss the more he began to feel his lungs collapse and his heart rate increase-like he was going to die. He could see Death talking to him, telling him he had to let Selina go _now_ , but his body was beginning to shake and he was too overwhelmed with what was happening that he couldn't respond.

Alfred was yelling but his voice was too far away for Bruce to hear.

 _"Stop it, you're killing him!"_

 _"You have to let her go now, Bruce."_ Death.

 _"Bruce…"_ Karen.

He glanced down at Selina who had no say in the matter… whose life was in his hands now, and whatever choice he was about to make was in her best interest. His lips trembled. He imagined her when she was alive. There, putting them in peace and serenity, putting them in a private place; and in the chaos of his company, he pressed his lips to hers so calmly, truly feeling Death for the first time…


	2. II

_"You can curse me,_

 _You can curse God,_

 _And you can curse Death,_

 _But the only one you can_

 _Really blame is yourself."_

-The Shadow.

* * *

 _II_

* * *

Death could see her, dangling there so helplessly in the dark. It only took a second… as Bruce touched her lips, and the thread broke sending Selina tumbling into the black without a sound.

Even as he felt her gone Bruce stayed for a second with his lips still against hers. He remained tangled in the mess that he had seemingly created. Feeling like it was stupid because he _wanted_ to stay there, and kiss her… he wanted to stay bent on his knees with his lips touching hers, just like their noses and just like their cheeks. Not because he was a young boy that should have been at the age where kissing girls was favourable. Or because it was something that was somehow in his nature to _want_.

Kissing was something natural, shared between two human beings to show affection… yet Bruce could never really imagine the idea of kissing another person. He couldn't understand being touched in such a way without wanting to draw back. However, he did not get a chance when the strange street girl that was Selina Kyle surprised him and then left him in wonder. He thought of that first kiss when he let her go and even that wasn't enough to fix things. So when he kissed her he stayed because he hoped beyond all belief it would somehow bring her back to him. That somehow a kiss was powerful enough to bring someone back to life. She had died and the job was done. She still did not return even as he kissed her in the silly hope she would kiss him back.

He could swear he felt her move in the last second before he parted. That she flinched just a little… she touched him, placed her hand over his that was lying on her heart. That she breathed just a little… before it all went away. That maybe she had kissed him too. But he knew it was all inside of his head because he wanted to believe it. The truth was, Selina had left as still and quiet as when she was alive.

When he finally pulled away it felt like a lifetime of unmoving. As if he'd been a statue, a gargoyle on top of Gotham's tall buildings. Moving took some time, flexing his shoulders and wiggling his toes from inside his shoes took… effort. There was a moan in the back of his throat that reminded him he was still present, and everything around him was true. He pressed both of his lips together while he rolled his tongue around in his mouth-he was dehydrated. He needed water. His head was almost throbbing, and he could feel the dry tears stuck to his skin. Everybody around him stood frozen, which made time feel like it was standing still.

A huge crack of thunder brought down a long, jagged bolt of lightning from outside the windows. The sound disturbed the still, silhouette figures of the group. However, Death and Bruce reminded still as the windows of the Manor quickly erupted in a harsh, white light. A blazing second shrouding them in blinding white before turning dark again. All eyes meeting at the front entrance where _she_ stood… dressed in clothes and human flesh, bright red lipstick and the most perfect curls of blond anyone ever saw.

"I'm _back_ …" she sang bowing in a small curtsy and flashing her hands. Her fingernails long and sharp-looking like claws. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything… _important_ ," she laughed. A long, jolly laugh that was loud and almost… contagious.

"What do you want?" Bruce spit at her with hate. She tilted her head slightly… marvelling at the cherry red glow of Selina's blood perfect on his lips.

"Brucey Boy," _It mocked. "Did she taste good?" It clasped womanish hands together at her legs in honest wonder, the slinky black dress hanging above the knees._

"What do you want?" he repeated again with more spite.

"Oh you don't know…" her eyes went wide as she peered around the room, confident as ever knowing the unknown secrets that had yet to be discovered. "He doesn't know," it announced like the secret was obvious. It turned back to Bruce. "You don't know, you didn't tell him…"

Light looked down at Bruce almost ashamed and frightful, he stared back demanding answers she was unwilling to give.

"Tell me what?" he growled.

 _"Bruce,"_ she put her hands out in front of her to signal she meant no harm. _"Selina… she's not-"_

"She's not going to Heaven," It interrupted. "She's coming with me."

"What do you mean?" He looked at The Light for an answer.

 _"I… Selina has a sister,"_ she confessed. _"Magdalene."_

He peered down at Selina, teary-eyed. His brain hurt as he tried to recall the familiar name from his memories. A short, wavy-haired pale girl from the Church. "Yes," he said. "I know _Maggie._ She's Selina's sister from the Church-St. Maria's. I met her once on a Sunday afternoon after it had stopped raining. Selina introduced us." The memory came to his mind of the little girl running hurriedly through the pews to see her sister. The gut-wrenching feeling of having to tell her about Selina suddenly hit him in the stomach, turning to cramps that made him hurt. "How does she fit into all this?"

He watched her watch Death, pursing her lips together without a word to him. Her and Death exchanged glances as though they were having a conversation inside the privacy of their own minds. Becoming increasingly frustrated he demanded an answer from Death. "Tell me."

Death looked at him and closed her eyes. **_"I… I don't know what to say…"_**

"I see," he blinked, causing a tear to fall from his eyes. The wet drop fell onto his fingers and slipped between skin. "And what do you want?" he asked The Shadow. "Isn't this what you wanted? She's gone now." And too quick for him to realize, The Shadow had somehow made her way across the room without notice and reached out a cleverly disguised hand, hooking her fingers into the quilt on Selina's coat.

Bruce immediately scooped Selina's body tight against his chest and hurled himself backward to where her evil touch was just out of reach. "I won't let you take her," he huffed.

She shook her head, perfect red lips turning into a frown. "Oh, you poor, poor, stupid boy… She already _belongs_ to me." She smiled in amusement. "After all, that was the deal."

He pondered: "What deal?"

She stepped away from him in gentle shock, her lips parting in the smallest "o" before she erupted in the strongest laugh ever. "What deal?" She bellowed high over the thunder and lightning-another stab of electrical charge lighting the inside of the house as she arched herself backwards with such an evil laugh. Bringing fear to all those around her. Bruce shook.

There, while he sat in his quivering fear with Selina shaking involuntarily in his arms, The Shadow so calmly towered over him. Silent just as Selina, she gave him an evil look… filling him and his companions with so much dread they could hardly stand. She kneeled, leaning her face so close that their noses were almost touching.

"Why…" he gasped in tearful breaths. "Why are you doing this…"

She grabbed him so quick-digging her manicured nails into his cheeks and creating indentations in his skin. "You sweet boy," she answered. "I didn't do this to her," his face was shaking so hard, tears and a cold sweat of pure fear-drenched his cheeks and eyes. Then she said the most nightmarish thing: _"you did."_ She released her hands but left him shivering. His breath catching in his throat, and his heartbeat pumping faster and faster in his chest.

His arms still trembling terribly, Selina's body slipped from his embrace as The Shadow pulled her into her arms. "You all did." She looked at the group. "Thank you."

She rose from the scene with a Cheshire grin, turning her back she headed for the door where there was already a huge cluster of rainwater from the entrance.

"No!" Bridgit yelled and broke free of her stand-still. Dropping her weapon she charged for The Shadow's disguise readying to beat with her weak fists despite fear and the identical tears on her face. Karen flew after her wildly, having her hands outstretched as she reached Bridgit just in time; putting herself in-between her and The Shadow. She put her hands on Bridgit's shoulders to calm her-darting her teary eyes back from one figure to the other.

"Bridgit, please no," she pleaded. "She's sorry," she begged The Shadow. "She's sorry, she won't do it again…" her breath came out in ragged gasps.

'She better be," The Shadow replied turning away from them.

Bridgit nearly screamed and put her fists in her hair, ready to yank the last of her raven locks from the scalp. Karen whispered quietly trying to calm her.

The Shadow stopped right at the doorway connecting the outside from them in just as the rainwater painted Its human mask. It turned back to Bruce one last time to see him still kneeling there-exactly like he had when he was twelve and she saw him in the alley. Snivelling and crying, his arms outright in the exact position where Selina had been. She made him look.

"You can curse me, you can curse God, and you can curse Death. But the only one you can really blame is yourself."

She took her leave into the downpour. Disappearing down the driveway and deeper into Gotham's volley of rain, thunder, and lightning. Walking further and further out until she was gone completely from view.


	3. III

_"I want you to know… I mean, I think it's important that you know, but more importantly, **I want** you to know… I didn't want to do what I had to do. It's my job and I just do it. But that doesn't mean it's easy and it doesn't mean I wanted to take her from you. Just like I didn't want to take your mom and dad from you. That's just the way things happened and I'm so very sorry. If I didn't have to… I would have never done any of it. I know what's it's like… to live, believe it or not. Once every hundred years. I cherish its value because life is a gift… I know what it's like to pass on. So I want you to know, despite everything you might hear… I get it." _

_-Death to Bruce._

* * *

 _III_

* * *

A Church. That's where they went. The old one in the Narrows of Gotham where few people frequented aside from the homeless, children seeking Asylum and people still so deeply rooted in their faith, despite the horrible goings-on in Gotham. It was cold and dark as the group approached; Fish Mooney wrapping her fur coat tighter around her shoulders while also trying to get ahold of the snivelling ten-year-old Ivy Pepper who was walking stiffly, holding the hand of her older self. Something openly strange that nobody could seem to explain to her-so she went along with it. In an attempt to cover her in warmth Fish tried to grab onto the back of the small child's tattered ware, but her fingers caught on one of the holes tearing a thread loose and getting it entangled in her acrylic nails. Ivy didn't seem to notice, so Fish gave up and kept walking forward.

Alfred made it to the doors first; jiggling one of the old handles that felt like it was two shakes away from falling off-but the door came open easily. Which was the important thing. He held the heavy door open with his backside, waving the crew inside one by one-Maria at his side. He helped little Ivy over the concrete step so she wouldn't trip, and offered his hand to Fish so she could be careful with her sparkly heels. Jim and Leslie came next, thanking Alfred for his kindness as they passed through the Church doors wondering what they were doing there in the first place. Tabitha and Barbara came after them-pressed together at the hip, hurrying inside without so much as a glace or a murmur to avoid anything awkward, and Bridgit and Karen followed being next to last of the bunch. They came with sympathetic smiles and a pair of hands held together behind the back of Subject 514A-Five. Who said nothing as he passed, leaving Karen and Bridgit at the concrete step just as the first few drops of rain-kissed their cheeks. They should have hurried inside before it poured, but Karen threw her head back into the disgusting grey look of the city where she saw the last runt of their litter walking alone. Seemingly so far away from the rest of them… the rain came again, and this time nailed her perfectly in the eye.

Maria jumped to intervene. "Come on, girls." She pressed a gentle hand against their backs and hurried them inside.

The rain started to become a light shower, and Alfred was afraid it was going to piss cats and dogs before he could get everyone inside. However, the last person in the group showed up, solemn than the rest, his head hanging limply on his shoulders with his hands in his pockets and his hair growing damp; Bruce. It started to pour as his foot hit the front step. His backside getting wet as he entered the Church, and Alfred was already soaked by the time he shut the door behind them and locked it tight.

* * *

Shaking off their coats and clothes, everyone settled into their own separate pews throughout the Church. Bridgit and Karen doing the sensible thing and scrambling up some candles for everyone, lighted by the flame of Brigit's lighter to cast a spark of light.

When the Church was dimly lit most of the group sat in their pairs passing gentle chatter between themselves. Some were staring alone in the contemplation of the entire situation they were in. Some prayed though it was few. Bridgit in particular who leaned forward against the back of a pew, arms bent and palms clasped together. Her head hung over she mouthed incoherent words over and over again with her eyes shut and fingers knitted together in prayer. Her voice was like a ghost disturbing the silence, and still, she could not be understood. Reginald, who had snuck inside past his old friend was also bent the same way not too far away. Hunched over in his own pew with his mouth closed and motives to those above hidden. He was still, he was silent.

Watching Bridgit, and seeming inspired Fish abandoned her pew leaving her fur behind and crept on quiet toes through the eyes of the audience. "May I…" she whispered to Bridgit motioning to the empty space beside her.

"Of course," Bridgit looked up and smiled.

"Fish Mooney," Fish introduced.

"Yeah," Bridgit smiled awkwardly and didn't join the hand held out to her. "I know who you are…" Trying her best to be polite while also seeing the burnt memories of her three brothers, she nodded respectfully before bowing her head again for prayer.

Young Ivy was busy running throughout the pews and causing gentle havoc, pressing her fingers swiftly into the pants pockets and coats of everyone she passed. Her older self was trying her best to grab on tight to the wild girl, fighting the ten-year-old urge she harboured to join in. While Bruce was up at the altar isolated as ever with his knees to his chin, looking out but starting at nothing. Alfred watched him directly with his back to the church door; no way out. His arms folded across his chest. Maria to his far left at a tiny altar, seemingly staring at the wall but her hands clasped against each other gave the impression she too, was praying.

It was in the quiet desperation of his mind where Bruce hurried to put his palms together and close his fingers around each other. He started speaking, to no one in particular but the idea of God grew on his mind. If there was one and if they were listening he had to know what to do, he had to know where to send her. He _begged_ for forgiveness and he begged for Selina to have his forgiveness too. He prayed that she'd go to a good place and that someone would find her there. He prayed that there had been some mistake and he asked God to make it right. And after he had said all he could have he thought of the next step, and being absent of sound together with speechlessness of words, with trembling hands, he realized he had no next step. Nothing more left to say and nothing left to really do as his chest abruptly swelled with anxiety, congesting into a thick cloud he imagined covered his head and pumped through his ribcage like the mimic of a beating heart. It was weighing him down and he couldn't breathe… he was starting to lean… until the hand of consideration caught him by the shoulder and pulled him into a position of moderate posture.

It was Bridgit, her smile such a kind, welcoming change that he could feel himself almost at the edge of tears. Her teeth brought to light that she was genuinely positive.

"What were you doing?" she wondered.

"I-I don't know," he stammered not finding the correct words to confess. He glanced around the Church and saw everyone respectfully in their same positions. Not much had changed except for the two Ivy's lying side by side in one of the centre pews. Blissfully asleep, shedding the black from their eyes.

"You know," Bridgit suggested. "You don't have to pray to God. It's not a rule. More like… a heavily encouraged suggestion. You can speak to anyone. Dead, or alive."

"Thank you Bridgit," Bruce said. "I noticed," he glanced to Fish's direction-seeing the lean woman curled into herself with her hands pressed close to her face. "Your altercation with Fish Mooney over there. Is everything okay?"

"Oh," Bridgit almost blushed. "Yeah… she's _nice…_ " sounding like she questioned it she looked up to the ceiling and thought of her faith. "Well... she knew my brothers," she admitted. "They worked for her. She… shaped a portion of who they were… just like she did to Selina…" she shut her eyes tight and swallowed hard against tears. Bruce swallowed too. "I mean…" her voice was breaking. "I know it wasn't just Fish, I know it was all of us. But Selina… she was drawn to that… darkness. And Fish is an adult who should've known better. Selina was just a kid, she didn't know anything."

Her words struck Bruce.

"Anyway," she forced a smile and gave him a hug. "Good luck Bruce, Selina… she's really lucky to have a friend like you."

She pat him once on the knee before disappearing again in long strides to a corner near the front where Karen was seated, leaning against the corner crevices with her eyes closed. Bridgit's words comforted him to a point he felt confident and tried to pray again. Bending his face over his hands he started talking to his parents. He said how much he missed them to start and then asked them politely to find Selina wherever she may be in Hell. Then he asked them to bring her to a safer place with grass and city skyscrapers, to a good home with them. He begged a request that they take her in as their own and care for her as they did him. It seemed so simple and easy, knowing his parents as well as knowing the girl that had passed on into another life and unknowingly taken his heart with her. He blamed himself while also questioned if such a thing was really in his control to begin with. He asked them to help him understand.

"Please…" he cried. "Please… just please…" he begged of his parents. _Please find her. Please make her safe…_ He was rocking, shaking his hands together in a desperate motion-his voice growing louder with every plea. Everyone was staring at him.

He was so lost in the things going on inside of his head that he didn't even realize when the Church doors gave a loud, death-like rattle. As though his pleas of retribution for his friend had found some way in whatever void to reach his parents; answering him as the doors burst open with a grand entrance of thunder, lightning, and a downpour of rain like a red carpet. There, in the center of it all with her arms spread wide and a confident smile on her ebony lips… was Death; wearing now, a pirate's hat and a black leather overcoat. So quietly she strode into the House of God without bothering to close the doors behind her. She came with the same peace, kindness, and love as she had when they met-keeping her eyes solely on Bruce with every step of the way until she reached the altar. Silent, she sat down beside him.

 ** _"You're here,"_** she noted happily.

"This is where you said to meet," Bruce reminded her, removing tear-stained pupils from his hands. "Did you think I wouldn't come?"

 ** _"No,"_** she watched everyone around them. ** _"Exactly the opposite. I knew you would come."_**

Bruce became puzzled. "Well, if you knew I'd come then why are you so happy to see me? If you knew I was coming should it not matter?"

 ** _"No. I can still be happy to see you here,"_** she replied. **_"Just because I knew that you were going to come doesn't mean I'm not going to be less happy to see you. And it does matter,"_** she added. **_"If it didn't matter then you and I and everyone else here wouldn't be here. At all."_**

"That makes sense," he admitted. A cold breeze blew against his shoulders creating a chill inside his body that admittedly didn't bother him. However, for the first time he wondered about the imaginary children he conjured up inside of his mind. He saw them sleeping soundly somewhere in the Church, unknowing that he or the people he was responsible for had invaded their home. He hoped they were safe and warm. For whatever reason, no one made move to close the Church doors, letting the cold and rain blow in freely.

She attempted to explain the prospect to him.

 ** _"If you… make plans, and you know you're going to see Selina that day, or maybe even someone else you care deeply about-like James over there,"_** she pointed to Jim standing under one of the stained glass windows. He was staring at the time on his pocket watch-reading midnight. Presumably, the time Selina died, though he wasn't certain because it seemed time was no longer a presence like the rest of them. He waited for the hand to turn on the next hour until his name was called and he responded naturally. **_"Are you not still happy to see them when you do?"_** She tilted her head to look at him and smiled.

He chucked, surprised he was able to produce such joy in a time of such sorrow and depression. "I said you had a point," he reminded. "You don't have to rub it in." Though, he didn't mind.

Death crossed her fingers together over her knees like she was about to pray. **_"But especially Selina, right?"_**

He chuckled again. "Yes," he said. "Especially her." Then he looked about the Church as his family, his friends. "But it's not _just_ about Selina," he reminded.

 ** _"No,"_** she agreed. **_"It's not. But Selina is the reason we're all here right now. Selina… and you."_**

Silent, they both stared in their similar positions outside into the city streets where the rain was coming down harder making the sights and buildings outside melt away in a wet blur. Bruce watched and shamelessly imagined the storm bringing the entire city down in a heap. Washing everything away down into the gutters where it would be forgotten. While he stared, Death listened. She listened to the whispers of the people around her, she listened to the rain outside as it pattered against the sidewalk and the streets, but most intently she listened to the laboured breathing of her seatmate and the _thump, thump, thump_ of his heart.

 ** _"You know,"_** she said low. ** _"You can talk about her… before we do all this. It might seem stupid, and I'm not saying what we are about to do won't work, but just to… you know, preserve the time you had before she left. Cherish it."_** She closed her mouth for a moment to give him silence to think, then added, **_"if you want to."_**

"I don't… I don't think I'd know what to say…" he confessed.

 _ **"I call bullshit,"**_ Death said bluntly. ** _"But if you want… I can help you get started."_**

He was happy with that. "Okay."

 ** _"Can I tell you a secret?"_** she asked.

"Sure."

 ** _"I want you to know… I mean, I think it's important that you know, but more_ importantly _, I want you to know…"_** she took a breath, then releasing a long held sigh said: _**"I didn't want to do what I had to do. It's my job and I just do it. But that doesn't mean it's easy and it doesn't mean I wanted to take her from you. Just like I didn't want to take your mom and dad from you. That's just the way things happened and I'm so very sorry. If I didn't have to… I would have never done any of it. I know what's it's like… to live, believe it or not. Once every hundred years. I cherish its value because life is a gift… I know what it's like to pass on. So I want you to know, despite everything you might hear… I get it."**_

He remained quiet without a move, then delicately reached over and grabbed one of her pale hands.

"I know… I don't blame you," he said, "and I'm happy to know that someone as wonderful as you were able to guide them into the Afterlife when they passed."

Death smiled, squeezing their fingers together. ** _"I'm happy to have met people as incredible as your parents, Bruce, and Selina"_** She turned to him. ** _"I like you."_**

He grinned. "It's funny, people talk about you like you're some skeleton man wearing a black hood and carrying a long cycle. A man who shows no mercy and just takes… but you're a really nice person."

 ** _"HA!"_** she shouted, sending hidden rats scurrying back into their hidey-holes. ** _"You know something funnier? You're not like the pompous, rich, spoiled asshole that everyone says you are."_**

He laughed at that "But I assume you already knew that."

 ** _"Of course,"_** she said. ** _"I know everything."_**

Things became hushed again and everyone was starting to shiver a bit more violently. It was cold, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.

 ** _"So, are you ready to go?"_** Death asked Bruce.

"Yes."

She offered her hand… he took it… and in an instant... they were gone.


End file.
